Virender Sehwag has pointed the finger at himself after India slumped to their second loss at the Gabba in three days, forfeiting their place at the top of the Commonwealth Bank Series ladder.
Chasing Sri Lanka's 290 and desperate for a captain's knock, the Indian great fell to the second ball of the innings, lashing an edge to third man in what was the first of several disappointing top-order performances.
Irfan Pathan (47) ensured respectability in the total and Sachin Tendulkar was handy before chopping on for 22, while Rohit Kohli rode the devil's luck to a team-high 66, which was helped by two second chances courtesy of the fumbling Sri Lankans.
Having arrived Brisbane at the top of the table, the Indians leave their two-game sojourn at the bottom on 10 points, trailing Sri Lanka in second (11) and leaders Australia (14).
Stand-in captain Sehwag, who has no guarantee of selection upon MS Dhoni's return from suspension, issued a wake-up call to the entire side, but didn't shirk responsibility for his own inefficacy.
"We didn't play well in batting and bowling and fielding. I think we gave away too many runs in the last seven or eight overs, so that cost us, and again the top-order didn't fire," he said.
"The way Tendulkar and Gambhir were batting I thought maybe they'd play some good innings and they'll give us a good start. But we lost three early wickets."
"We couldn't bat 50 overs. If we batted the full 50 overs it might be a different story. One batsman has to bat to the end."
"Obviously we're not getting good starts. I know the last three games I've played in one-day (cricket) I haven't scored runs, so I have to look at my shot selection. If I give a little bit more time to myself then maybe I can play my shots and it's a different story."
But Sehwag also took credit for upholding the spirit of the game when he withdrew Ravichandran Ashwin's appeal for a Mankad run out against Sri Lanka's eventual top-scorer, Lahiru Thirimanne, who went on to make 62 after the reprieve at 44.
There was suggestion that Sachin Tendulkar had been involved in the decision, but Sehwag said that he had made the call, despite believing Ashwin had fulfilled his obligations by previously warning Thirimanne.
"Ashwin warned him once in the previous over and in the next over he took the bails off and appealed for that," said Sehwag.
"Everyone was discussing, but the umpires called me and after that I said we could give him one more warning."
"The ICC made the rule that if someone is taking an early start the bowlers have a full right to (Mankad them)."
"I think he went to Billy Bowden, the senior umpire, and he asked him, they discussed it, and after that called me and said it's your call now, if you appeal then we can give it out."
"I took the decision there that we give him one more warning, because if we appeal and the umpire gave it out, somebody might criticise that it was not spirit of the game."
